The leader of an evangelical mega-church in California has told his congregation that there is “no such thing as gay” in response to a question about whether gay Christians can get into heaven.
“No one is gay. If you mean by that, that that’s some hardwiring, no one is gay,” Pastor John MacArthur says in a video uploaded to Youtube.
“People commit adultery, they commit sins of homosexuality, they lie, they steal, they cheat.
“It’s like saying, ‘I keep robbing banks, but I’m a robber. I’m a bank robber. What am I gonna do? I’m a bank robber.’ That is not an excuse for what you do.”
He continued: “Are there certain kind of impulses that lead people in that direction? Yes. But I think one of the really deadly aspects of this is to let people define themselves as gay.
“They are not gay any more than an adulterer is hardwired to be forced by his own nature to commit adultery. Those are all behavioural sins that are condemned in scripture.
“God didn’t hardwire anybody in such a way that they are not responsible for certain behaviours.
“And so we need to cancel that out of the sin list and welcome them into the kingdom of God, because you can’t do anything else?
“But I think we do no service to people who are caught in the vicious sins of homosexuality by letting them define themselves by that sin.”
MacArthur has previously stated that the “two greatest attacks on terror” in the United States were when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of abortion and marriage equality. He’s also preached that parents should shun their gay children.
You can watch the full video below:
